PHOTO SPECIFICATION

Applying For Photograph Size

VISA APPLICATIONS 51 x 51 mm

PASSPORT SERVICES 51x 51 mm

OCI (Overseas Citizenship of India) 51 X 51 mm

PIO 35 X 35 mm

PCC/Birth Certificate 35 X 35 mm

Note: The photo requirements are very strict.. Please follow the following instructions accordingly:

1. Center head within frame and present full head from top of hair to bottom

of chin. 2. The face should cover about 60-70 percent of the photo area 3. The applicant's head, including both face and hair, should be shown from

the crown of the head to the tip of the chin. 4. Please ensure both ears, neck, and shoulders are clearly visible. 5. The head must be centered within the frame. 6. Photo should present Full face, front view, eyes open. 7. Background should be plain white colored without borders with contract

colored clothes (not white clothes). 8. Photos with dark, busy, or patterned backgrounds will not be accepted. 9. No shadows on the face or on the background.

Do's and Don'ts for a Proper photograph

Lighting on face and background

1. The light should be even and balanced to avoid shadows on the face. 2. Background behind the face should be properly illuminated to avoid

shadows in the background. 3. Print photo on thin photo paper. 4. Ensure the print is clear and has a continuous-tone quality.

5. Do not retouch or otherwise enhance or soften the photo.

Head & Eyes- Position and Background

6. Head should face the camera directly and should not tilt or turned (portrait

style). 7. Photo must show both edges of the face clearly. 8. The eyes must be open, level and clearly visible and must not be covered

by hairs or eyeglass frames.

Eyeglasses

1. Glare on eyeglasses should be avoided with a slight upward or downward

tilt of the head. 2. No tinted or dark glasses.

Head coverings:

Head coverings are not permitted except for religious reasons, but the facial features from bottom of chin to top of forehead and both edges of the face must be clearly shown.

Exposure and Lighting

1. There should not be any over-exposure or underexposure which results in

an unusable photo. 2. There should be a three-point balanced lighting. Facial features should be

clearly evident in the photo. 3. Lighting should be adjusted to avoid shadows on the face or background.

Diffuse sources of light, such as umbrella lights, are preferable to point sources.

Flexibility in Children's photographs

1. Babies under one year do not have to have their eyes open. 2. As regards the photograph of the children under ten years of age,

requirements can be somewhat relaxed in respect of height of the face and the position of the eyes in the photographs; and in case of babies and infants also, the position of the face, the facial expression, the eyes and the line of sight can have some relaxation. However, a frontal photograph with clarity is required for children.

3. It should show the child alone (no chair backs, toys or other people visible) looking at the camera with a neutral expression and the mouth closed.

PASSPORT PHOTO INSTRUCTIONS 1)The image should be 2 inches by 2 inches; 2) The image must have adequate brightness and contrast; 3) The skin tone should be natural. In case of over-exposure or under-exposure of the photo, the skin is either too dark or too light, photo

will not be acceptable; 4) It should show a close up of the head and (partial) shoulders; 5) The image should be straight looking, centred with neutral expression; 6) Face should be in sharp focus and clear with no ink marks/creases/lines; 7) The face (from forehead edge to bottom of chin) should be 70 to 80% of

the photo or one inch height; 8) The eyes must be open and no hair obscuring the face; 9) Prescription glasses if worn should be clear and thin framed and should

not have flash reflection or obscure the eyes; 10) Head coverings, hair, head-dress or facial ornaments should not obscure

the face; 11) The photo must have plain light background; 12) There must be no other people or object in the photo; 13) The lighting must be uniform with no shadows on the face or behind; 14) Red eye photos are not allowed; 15) No lines are allowed. Photo scan file specification 16) The photo should be ideally printed by professional photo studio with

continuous tone; and good resolution. Polaroid photos or photos printed with

ordinary printers will not be suitable for scanning. 17) The photo should have preferably been scanned using NIC scanning

software available in the NIC-CIPPS uploading software, with 300 DPI

setting. If use of NIC scanning software is not feasible, then branded

software that comes with the scanner could be used with the following

settings :- Color photo; 400 DPI 18) The scanner glass surface should be cleaned regularly, so the

scanned photo is clear without any dust;

Passports applications with photos that do not match the ICAO

specifications are liable to be rejected by foreign immigration authorities,

and could result in extreme inconvenience to the passport holder.

Annexure “A”

SAMPLE IMAGES

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Annexure “B”

Photo Guidlines

Requirement of photograph for passports

Based upon the specifications of the International Standards

Organization (ISO) and ICAO, which is responsible for standardizing

travel documents, the most important requirements for a photograph for

e-passport is that the face must be taken from a full frontal position and

the height of the face must meet the prescribed specifications. The eyes

must be open, level and clearly visible with in the indicated area. The

face should be centered with in the frame.

Advice for Passport Applicants to Submit Proper Quality

Photograph The quality of the photograph appearing on the passport depends on the

photograph that is submitted at the time of applying for a passport. The

passport seekers are, therefore, advised to submit the photographs, as

specified, to avoid delay in processing their passport applications.

SamplePhoto

● The photograph should be in color

and of the size of 2 inch x 2 inch

(51mmx51mm). ● The photo-print should be clear and

with a continuous-tone quality. ● It should have full face, front-view,

eyes open. 2 inch ● Photo should present full head from

top of hair to bottom of chin. ● Center head with in frame. ● The background should be a plain

white or off-white.

● There should not be any distracting 2 inch

shadows

on the face or on the background.

● Head coverings are not permitted except for religious reasons, but

the facial features from bottom of chin to top of forehead and both

edges of the face must be clearly shown. ● The expression on the face should look natural.

Do’s and Don’ts for a Proper photo

The photo should capture full face,

front view, with eyes open. The

head should be in the center of the

frame.

There should be no distracting shadows on the face or background.

Distractingba Notcentered

ckground

Make sure photo presents

2 inch full head from top of hair

1.4 to 1.6 inch

to bottom of chin; height of

head should measure 1.4

inch to 1.6 inch (35mm to

40mm)

Lighting on face and background

Light should be even and balanced to

avoid shadows on Face Background behind the face should

be properly illuminated to avoid

shadows in the background.

PhotographPrintProperties

Shadows behind Shadows across the head the face

The photograph should be in size 2inch x 2inch (51mmx51mm) and

in color. Print photo on thin photo paper

or stock.

Ensure the print is

clear and has a

2 inch

continuous-tone quality. Do not

retouch or otherwise enhance or

soften the photo.

Blurred Inkmarked/

creased

ResolutionandPrintingQuality High-resolution photography and printing are strongly recommended.

Both conventional and digital photography are acceptable, and

conventional or digital printing methods may be used.

Resulting print should exhibit a

continuous-tone quality

regardless of the print method

used (dye sublimation, ink jet, laser, etc)

Pixilated Digitally printed photos should be produced without visible pixels or dot patterns.

Fine facial features should be discernible.

ContrastandColor Brightness and contrast should be adjusted to present the subject and

background accurately.

Photos without proper contrast or

color may obscure unique facial

features. Color should reproduce

natural skin-tones.

Fluorescent or other lighting with Looking Unnatural

un-balanced color may cause un-

wanted color cast in the photo. away skin tones

Appropriate filters can eliminate improper color balance.

Head&Eyes-PositionandBackground Head should face the camera directly and should not tilt or turned

(portrait style).

Photo must show both edges of

the face clearly.

The eyes must be open, level

and clearly visible and must not

be covered by hair or eye-glass

frame.

Eye glasses Glare on eyeglasses should be

avoided with as light upward or

downward tilt of the head. No tinted or dark glasses.

Hairsacross Eyesclosed

eyes

Flash

Dark tinted reflection on lenses

lenses

Washed out colours

Head coverings are not

permitted except for

religious reasons, but the

facial features from

bottom of chin to top of

forehead and both edges

of the face must be

clearly shown.

Exposure and Lighting There should not be any over

- exposure or under-

exposure, which results in an

unusable photo.

There should be a three-point

balanced lighting. Facial features Toodark Toolight

should be clearly evident in the

photo.

Lighting should be adjusted to avoid shadows on the face or

background. Diffuse sources of light, such as umbrella lights, are

preferable to point sources.

Flexibility in Children’s photographs Babies under one year do not have to have their eyes open. As regards the photograph of the children under ten years of age,

requirements can be somewhat relaxed in respect of height of the

face, and the position of the Eyes in the photographs; and in

case of babies and infants also,

the position of the face, the

facial expression, the eyes and Shows

the line of sight can have some Mouthopen

relaxation. However, a frontal background andtoyclose

toface

photograph with clarity is

required for children. I t

s h o u l d show the child alone

(no chair backs, toys or other

people visible), looking at the

camera with a neutral

expression and the mouth

closed. Photographs taken

with a digital camera should

be of high quality color.